Congratulations!

You should be very proud of your performance this evening. That was one of the best 5th grade shows I have ever seen! Well done.

Lite-Brite

Check out this great site. It is Lite-Brite online!!!! Have fun!

Click here:

http://www.sfpg.com/animation/liteBrite.html#

Open House

5th Grade Students and Parents-

Don't forget to come to Ivy Hill's Open House this Thursday 7:00-8:00pm. You will be asked to participate in a scavenger hunt to earn a free homework pass!

Show off your marble maze, westward expansion project, preposition poem, and Lewis and Clark expedition map!!

See you there!

Marble Mazes

This week we are creating our marble mazes. Teams of 3 students are working together to develop a maze that will have their marble go the SLOWEST! All marble mazes will be presented at Open House on Thursday evening.

Lewis and Clark

Check out this interactive game! Good luck!!

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/west/

Friction!

This guy needed more friction!

The Laws of Motion --- RAP Style!

Here are the links to the 3 raps we watched today. Have fun!

Law Number 1:

http://www.teachertube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=5be397a06a7dddd0679d

Law Number 2:

http://www.teachertube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=3c50653dfeca80d85ea6


Law Number 3:

http://www.teachertube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=5f46aa97a9b69cbad002

Try This Riddle!

Weight in my belly,
Trees on my back,
Nails in my ribs,
Feet do I lack.
What am I?

Science Olympiad!

This Friday we will participating in another Science Olympiad! The 5th graders will be going to different classrooms on Friday afternoon to participate in a variety of science activities. I hope you enjoy this wonderful afternoon!

Don't Forget!

Don't forget our trip to Thomas tomorrow morning!

Check Out This Photograph!

This picture has been nominated by National Geographic as "The Photo of the Year"????

A photograph that has been circulating on the internet showing a shark leaping out of the water to attack a helicopter, is a fake. The composite image, which claims to be National Geographic's "Photo of the Year," was spliced together from a U.S. Air Force photo taken near San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge and a photo of a shark from South Africa.


The photo of a breaching great white shark was taken by South African photographer Charles Maxwell. The Air Force photo of an HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopter was taken by Lance Cheung. They were spliced together by an unknown person, and reportedly began making the rounds on e-mail in August 2001.

The lesson here is:

BE CAUTIOUS ABOUT WHAT YOU SEE ON THE INTERNET!!!!!

Research

Today the class finished their research in the LMC. Next week we will begin creating a slideshow using Keynote.

Thomas Visit!

We are going to visit Thomas Middle School next Tuesday, April 8th. You will take a tour of the building and have the opportunity to ask questions.

More Pictures!

I'm Back From Japan!

Hello 5th graders-

I just got home from Japan. The flight was 13 hours long! I had a wonderful time and can hardly wait to show you my pictures. I went into every bookstore I could find to buy some books for our classroom. I found a few that I will share with you next week. I did find a Harry Potter book translated in Japanese but this PAPERBACK book was 6,600 yen ($66.00)!!! Wow!! I'm sure you can understand why I didn't buy that one.

I hope you are having a good break. I miss all of you and look forward to seeing you next week.

Update

I sent an email to the technology department and they are getting your email addresses ready. Hopefully, we will be able to use them when we get back. Stay tuned!

Off to Japan!

I want to wish all of you a wonderful spring break!!! Our conferences are over and you all did a wonderful job leading a conference. I have my books and knitting packed, so I'm ready to take that 13+ hour flight to Tokyo. Hopefully, I will be able to update the blog while I'm there, but if I can't, I will by next Sunday. Don't forget to check it out. See you soon!

We Are Done!

Congratulations 5th graders!!!! You are done with your ISAT tests. I'm very proud of your hard work and how you took them so seriously. I'm confident you did very well. Great job!

Riddle

What has a head and a tail but isn't alive?

Start Thinking!

Next week we will begin our research projects. Start thinking about a topic!

One More Day To Go!

You are doing a great job with the ISAT tests! Hang on for one more day and do your best!

ISAT Schedule

Here is the ISAT schedule:

Tuesday - 10:45 and 1:30 (2 tests)
Wednesday - 1:30 (1 test)
Thursday - 10:45 and 1:30 (2 tests)
Friday - 10:45 and 1:30 (2 tests)

Make sure you are well rested and eating healthy food!

Don't forget to have 3 sharpened pencils, a healthy snack, and a good reading book. You have been working very hard and I am sure you will do well.

Good luck!

Keep Working Hard!

I am very proud of your hard work this week preparing for the ISAT tests. Next week is our big week! Our tests will be on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. The good news is your homework load will be very light to rest your brains! Select a good book over the weekend to bring to school. You will be getting more free reading time.

Yikes!

Help!!! We are almost out of notebook paper. Would you please bring in 1 pack of WIDE RULED notebook paper for the rest of the year. Thank you!!!

Try This!

Check Out This Optical Illusion!

Your eyes are making them move. To test this, stare at one spot in each picture for a few seconds and everything will stop moving; OR look at the black center of each circle in the first picture, and it will stop moving; but when you move your eyes to the next black center, the previous one will move after you take your eyes away from it.

Cute Animals!

Earn a Ticket and a Bean!

Tell me who the Senator from Illinois is. Place your answer in the blog bin and earn a ticket!

Great Job 5th Graders!

Wow! What a fantastic job you did at the Wax Museum! I had so many teachers, students and parents come up to me and tell me what a wonderful evening they had and how interesting your speeches were! You should be so proud of yourselves! I'm sure you have memorized your speeches easily by now and hopefully learned a lot about the famous person you researched. Congratulations on a great job!!!

Mrs. Polito

Happy Valentine's Day

Puzzling Books

Try out these new books in the LMC that Mrs. Mika would like to recommend. They sure are PUZZLING!

FEG Poems for Intelligent Children

The Mysterious Benedict Society

The Westing Game

The Wright 3

Chasing Vermeer

Happy Chinese New Year!

• 2008 is known as the Year of the Rat!

• This year is the year of Wu Zi.

• The current year is Year 4705 by the Chinese calendar.

See You Tomorrow

I hope you had a good day today. I'm beginning to feel better, so I'm sure I will see you tomorrow. I hope you earned your beans! Be prepared to tell me what you learned during the Internet Safety talk.

Don't forget about Slipper Day!

5th Grade Parents!

Your child brought home a letter inviting you to attend one of the Principals' Breakfasts. There has been a change of date that you need to know about. Ivy Hill (parents only) is invited on Tuesday, Feb. 26th at 9:15 am. RSVP to the Thomas office at (847)398-4260. This is an important opportunity to learn more about Thomas Middle School.

Math Challenge

Calculate the following math problem, show your work, and place it in the blog bin for a ticket. Good luck!

(345 + 647) - (100/4 + 21) + (47 x 3) = ?????????????

Snow Research

I would like you to figure out a way to find out how much snow we got today. Use your strategy to record the amount of inches on a piece of paper and the strategy used. Place it in the blog bin for a ticket and I will read off the papers on Friday.

Happy Snow Day!

I hope you are having a nice snow day AGAIN!! I'm at home reading in bed with a bad cold. I think I caught the bug that has been going around our classroom. If I don't come to school on Thursday, I will plan a nice day for you. Don't forget, it will be double bean day!

Strange Facts!

If you stretch a standard Slinky out flat it measures 87 feet long.

Too Good For Drugs Homework!

Create your own vanity license plate telling us something positive about your personality. Decorate it! Due next Tuesday. I will be hanging them up, so do your best.

This Week's Update

Here is a brief schedule for the week:

TUESDAY
• Brain activities due
• Last week's DLR due
• Biography selected for the Wax Museum
• TFK worksheet from last week due
• Big Ending sheet due
• Too Good For Drugs
• Art
• Blog drawing
• Last day to submit a story for Celebrate Writing

THURSDAY
• Spelling due
• Spelling test
• January STARs lunch

FRIDAY
• Pictures for the cover of the yearbook are due - optional contest

Bean in the Jar!

Place a bean in the jar if you wanted the Giants to win!!!

Super Bowl Winner!

Did your team win the Super Bowl?
WOW!!!!

Click here!

SENSES CHALLENGE!

Click on this website and complete the challenge. Place your score in the blog bin and earn a ticket! It's lots of fun!

Happy Snow Day!